Abbey Town Survey and Excavation

Grampus has been working at Holme Cultram with members of the West Cumbria Archaeology Society since the summer of 2006. The main objectives of the survey and excavation was to try and find the original foundations as part of the Society's investigation into the history and archaeology of the Abbey. The subsequent excavation was a success, with a South wall of the Cloister, East wall of the Refectory and a drain being found in one trench. Two graves with an associated grave stone were also found. The grave stone had the date 1430 on it and was probably the stone of a Clerk.

Since the first successful survey and community excavation, more work has taken place since 2006, still focussed around the area of Holme Cultram. A survey was carried out at the end of March that focussed on Kiln Close Field, located to the East of the Abbey. The last survey and fieldwork associated with the Abbey was carried out at New Cowper, looking for a chapel associated with the Abbey.

If you would like more information about the ongoing work at Abbey Town, please contact us, or look at the Society's Facebook page, which will have updates about when and where they have organised field work.

'Celebrating Seasons'

Exciting News!!Grampus is now a partner in the "Celebrating Seasons" Project, which brings together a partnership of rurally based organisations from Cyprus, Germany, Iceland, Slovakia and the UK. Each of the partners shares a set of common issues in striving to "Regenerate " rural communities and economies. With fewer young people returning to rural areas after Higher Education, it is clear that we must empower older learners with the confidence to re-enter education, develop new skills and have access to the range of European opportunity and experience-sharing which is far more accessible to younger learners in formal education establishments. This project is funded by Grundtvig.

Clay Dabbins Project- English Heritage

The "Clay Dabbins" Project - a partnership between Grampus Heritage, Carlisle Council and NECT (North of England Civic Trust) - has been funded by English Heritage and continues to run throughout 2011. The project was designed to educate professional builders, craftsmen and anyone else involved in traditional buildings, as well as informing the wider public about these buildings that form part of the traditional vernacular architecture of this region. A recreation of a Dabbin (essentially a clay-walled building, very similar to 'Cob' buildings in the south of England) is in progress at Ashgill, the final stage- roofing it using heather thatch- is scheduled for Monday 16th / Tuesday 17th May 2011. We encourage anyone who is interested to learn more, or even get involved with the roofing work, to come along to Ashgill and see for yourself. There is also a Clay Dabbin conference in Carlisle on Wednesday 6th April, as well as further training courses during the summer- visit the North of England Civic Trust website for further information.

Grampus is proud to be a partner in the new "Green Village" Project. This new project brings together 9 European countries who are all seeing a decline in rural areas through declining income, ageing populations, younger generations moving to areas of work, the loss of traditional skills and the loss of land. By focusing on creating a market for local and sustainable products, such as tourism, and looking at Cultural Heritage, it is hoped that Rural Regeneration can get a kick start in many affected areas. Click on the logo opposite to go straight to the "Green Village" website.

The Broomlands Community Survey and Excavation

Grampus has completed an excavation on the The Broomlands with volunteers after members of the public came forward after the floods with Roman artefacts they had found walking the field. Grampus set up a community project which included 6 weeks of magnetrometry survey of the fields to the north and south of the river as well as fields on the otherside of the Papcastle bypass. This was followed by 4 weeks of excavation work that involved members of the community working alongside an archaeological unit. The aim was to open archaeology up to the local community and to get them involved in discovering the history of their local area. The excavation proved to be a great success in both the numbers of volunteers who turned up daily and in terms of what was found. The discovery of a watermill along with what has been suggested as a military building alongside a civilian settlement outside the Roman fort at Papcastle suggests that there could be more to the area than previosuly thought.

The project is in the early stages of funding application to continue work in the area. It is hoped that more funding can be obtained in order for more excavation work to be carried out in the areas that have already been surveyed.